Grand payout

A ROBUST resettlement process and a generous tax-free payment are in place for all British Army soldiers selected for redundancy to help make their transition to civilian life.

And the British High Commission here is also ensuring life is as smooth as possible for Fijian soldiers who're part of the 1505 personnel who will be made redundant under the Armed Forces Redundancy Program.

Major Jim Hall, the British High Commission's army support officer, said the package had been further enhanced this year, and personnel selected for redundancy in June would be able to get a loan as an advance of their redundancy payment to help them buy their own home.

The policy rules covering eligibility for the scheme will be communicated to service personnel early next month.

To give those leaving the armed forces greater flexibility, the high commission said the scheme would be extended so that personnel leaving in this final tranche who do not own a home can apply for an advance of a significant proportion of their redundancy package to help with the cost of a house purchase.

The high commission said last year the Defence Secretary announced the launch of a £200million ($F624,397,717.18) Forces Help to Buy Scheme for service personnel from April 2014.